SONG TO THE MEN OF ENGLANDPERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

The PoemThis poem shows the message that Shelley

wants to put across. He wants the 'bees of England' (the workers) to become independent and not live under the suppressed regime of the 'tyrants'. He wants them to understand that they don't need to serve for anyone and need not to be treated like slaves. Throughout the poem, Shelley states what is happening, and also what the workers should do to have the rights of freedom.

About the AuthorPercy Bysshe Shelley was born in August 1792 and died in July 1822. He was one of the major English romantic poets. Like many of the young romantic poets, he died at a young age (29).

He became an idol of the next two or three or even four generations of poets.

In 1811, he married Harriet Westbrook and had a child. However, he later abandoned his pregnant wife and child and ran away with a woman named Mary. Later, his wife Harriet drowned herself, and Shelley married Mary, partly to hold custody to his child, but failed.

He drowned in a sudden storm, and never lived to see the extent of his success and influence in generations to come.

This poem, Song to the Men of England, was written in 1819, three years prior to his death.

Throughout his life, he wanted to fight Tyranny and slavery. His main goal was to lead men to “a life of freedom, love, and apprehension of the beautiful.

This poem was written for the working class people of England, during the French Revolution. It was written with the same purpose as many other romantics at that time: to urge the working class of Great Britain to rebel. . .

The Title

The title of the poem refers to the poor working class of England.

The title is direct, and the men are addressed personally by the word “to”.

The poem is like a song, the structure is songlike, and the word song can also relate to a protest, like how the bird sings in protest in “Caged Bird”, or a march against the lords who treat them badly.

Therefore, the title reveals that the poem is dedicated to the workers of England. It is a form of a protest in the format of a song

Song to the Men of England

AN

A

N O

T TIO

N

Stanza 1

"Men of England wherefore plough/For the lord who lay ye low?“ This divides the two classes, the workers and the ones who exploit them, referred as “tyrants”. In this way, the author criticizes the system and the fact that those who work the land are mistreated. He sympathizes with them but wants to know the reason why they let themselves to be exploited.

Three examples of alliteration is used in this stanza: “lords who lay ye low”, “Wherefore weave” and “rich robes”.

The use of alliteration suggests the poet is using a mocking tone, as to know why the workers have not already rebelled against the lords

The use of rhetorical questions is evident in this stanza, and also in stanzas to come. The repeated word “wherefore” (meaning why), is always followed by words with negative connotations, in this case, “lay” and “low”

The excessive use of rhetorical questions therefore emphasizes the suffering and tiresome work the “men of England” is put through frequently.

In addition, the word “tyrant” is also used frequently throughout the poem. This suggests that the people who have authority and are more well respected are oppressive and have power

Men of England, wherefore ploughFor the lords who lay ye low?Wherefore weave with toil and careThe rich robes your tyrants wear?

Wherefore feed and clothe and save,From the cradle to the grave,Those ungrateful drones who wouldDrain your sweat -nay, drink your blood?

Stanza 2

In this stanza, the poet uses “and” three times in the first stanza to emphasize the workers working for their masters. “From the cradle to the grave” is a metaphor. “Cradle” symbolises the lord at a young age, where “grave” symbolises older age. Therefore, it is saying that the workers work for the masters throughout their life

The idea of hierarchy is noted in the third line of this stanza, with the word “drone” A drone is someone who does no work, and lives off others. In addition, another definition of drone is a highly ranked bee that does not work and produces no honey. Therefore the poet uses bees as a metaphor to describe the people of England. The worker bees are the workers of England, and the lords are drones.

“Drain your sweat – nay, drink your blood” is a metaphor used to describe the intensity the workers are forced to work. The two verbs “drain” and “sweat” are used to describe the workers sweating and bleeding as they worked.

Stanza 3

Wherefore, Bees of England, forgeMany a weapon, chain, and scourge,That these stingless drones may spoilThe forced produce of your toil?

The idea of hierarchy is mentioned also in stanza three. Here, “men” is replaced by “bees”, which describes the hard work put in by the workers of England, as a bee works hard.

Once more, drone is used in this stanza, which is used to describe the different ranks in England. The “drones” are the lords who don’t work, where the bees are the workers.

In addition, the word “stingless” adds to the laziness of the lords. Stingless also implies that the lords are powerless without workers, as they have no “sting”, they are weak and cannot defend themselves.The word “many” is used to describe the amount of goods the workers produce. It also signifies the long hours and the effort put into the produce.

The words “forced” and “toil” carry negative connotations, and is used to describe the cruelty of the lords to the workers. These words makes the workers seem as though they are pushed to work continuously, with great difficulty. This therefore creates an image of injustice

Stanza 4Have ye leisure, comfort, calm,Shelter, food, love's gentle balm?Or what is it ye buy so dearWith your pain and with your fear?

Unlike the previous stanzas, this stanza states what the workers should have. The idea of social injustice is shown in this stanza, as the workers don’t have “leisure, comfort, calm”, but instead have to work for the lords.

The words such as “leisure, comfort, calm” have positive connotations, and a ‘soft’ words, which creates a gentle atmosphere.

“Or what is it ye buy so dear With your pain and with your fear” is ironic, as work usually brings rewards, but in this case work brings agony and pain.“Pain” and “fear” suggests harsh work the men of England does. Therefore, this stanza means that hard work should reap great rewards.

Stanza 5The seed ye sow, another reaps;The wealth ye find, another keeps;The robes ye weave, another wears;The arms ye forge, another bears.

This stanza summarises the previous stanzas, by saying what is happening when no action is taken to rebel against others.

Sowing and weaving was mentioned in stanza 1, where the poet asks why workers plough the land and weave robes for the lords, wealth was mentioned in stanza 4, where the comforts and luxuries which the workers should have are noted, and forging weapons is mentioned in the third.

The structure of the stanza is regular. The lines are made even, with six words per line, and all the lines have the same idea – the things you make are for the lords. The similar structure makes it seem like the workers are continually taken advantage of by the lords, as all the things they make are kept by the lords

Stanza 6

Sow seed, -but let no tyrant reap;Find wealth, -let no imposter heap;Weave robes, -let not the idle wear;Forge arms, in your defence to bear.

This stanza uses the same ideas from stanza five, and has a similar structure. Unlike the previous stanza, which demonstrates what is happening currently, this stanza represents what the poet thinks should happen

Once again, the actions of farming, weaving and forging are present, like in stanza five.

The use of imperatives are present in this stanza, which suggests aggressiveness from the poet.A more harsh tone is established in this stanza, and this tone becomes increasingly harsh as the poem continues

The word “another” used to describe the lords are replaced with harsher words, such as “tyrant” and “imposter”. The use of these words implies the lords’ cruelty.

Stanza 7

Shrink to your cellars, holes, and cells;In halls ye deck another dwells.Why shake the chains ye wrought? Ye seeThe steel ye tempered glance on ye.

The word “shrink” gives the workers a diminishing value, and makes them, seem unimportant and inferior to the lords. However, the word shrink could also symbolise a strike the workers are taking, as the lords support to survive diminishes as the workers refuse to work.

“cellars, holes, and cells” creates a dismal atmosphere. It makes the workers seem poor and unhappy, and even criminal in a way, with the word cell referring to a jail. These three words creates sympathy to the workers, as it creates an image as a bad place to dwell.

“shrink”, when used in conjunction with “cellars, holes, and cells” also makes it seem like the workers are scheming a plan against the lords.

The rhetorical question “Why shake the chains ye wrought?” relates to the first few stanzas, where rhetorical questions are common.

“The steel ye tempered glance on ye” is an example of the lords’ cruelty to the workers. It is also an example of the lords taking advantage of the workers – how the workers make things and the lords use them against the workers.

Stanza 8

The last stanza in the poem is one with a mocking tone. The poet builds his frustration up to this point, and here, his frustration is released, and he states what the workers futures will be once if they continue working the way they are.

With plough and spade and hoe and loom,Trace your grave, and build your tomb,And weave your winding-sheet, till fairEngland be your sepulchre!

The first two lines of the stanza is a metaphor, which describes what will happen if the workers continue working the way they are.

The tools “plough”, “spade”, “hoe” and “loom” are tools which workers use while working, and the word “build” suggests that they are working to “build” their own death. The next line, “and weave your winding-sheet, till fair” continues this interpretation, showing that they are creating their own death

Themes

Exploitation

Throughout the poem, signs of the lords exploiting the workers are evident

The lords keep all of the goods produced by the workers, and the workers get little return for them, and are often punished, shown in stanza 7 “The steel ye tempered glance on ye”

Social Injustice

The workers and the lords are not treated the same, with the workers being treated worse. Discrimination and Social injustice is an evident theme in the poem.

Unlike the lords, workers are shown to be denied luxuries such as “leisure, comfort, calm”, and these are things the workers need to rebel for.

Poverty

The workers live in poverty, and the lords live in luxury. Poverty in the poem also relates to the lords having more control than the workers, therefore, the rich getting richer, and the poor getting poorer.

Poverty is shown in stanza 7, where the workers live in “cellars, holes and cells”, and the lords live in “the halls ye deck”

Tone, Form and Structure

The poem is build up of eight stanzas, each with four lines, which gives the poem rhythm

There is rhyme (mostly AABB), and there is a constant rhythm pattern throughout the poem (iambic tetrameter)

The Poem starts with rhetorical questions, but slowly moves to imperatives describing what the workers should do. The tone of the stanzas increasingly becomes harsher as the poem continues.